Day Pitney's Katharine Coffey Named a 2026 NJBIZ Leader in Real Estate, Construction and Design Honoree

Day Pitney LLP is pleased to announce that Real Estate Partner Katharine A. Coffey has been named a 2026 Leader in Real Estate, Construction and Design award honoree in the Attorney category by NJBIZ, recognizing her outstanding contributions to New Jersey’s commercial real estate industry and her leadership on complex development and redevelopment matters.

The NJBIZ Leaders in Real Estate, Construction and Design awards honor individuals and companies shaping New Jersey’s commercial real estate landscape through development, design, construction, and project management. According to NJBIZ, honorees are licensed professionals working across commercial real estate sectors who live and work in New Jersey and demonstrate meaningful industry impact. For more information on the award and its methodology, click here.

“Kate is widely recognized for her ability to guide complex development projects from concept through completion in an ever-evolving regulatory environment,” said Michael P. Byrne, Day Pitney’s Managing Partner. “She combines sharp legal insight with strong business judgment, helping clients navigate challenges, align diverse stakeholders, and advance projects that shape communities across New Jersey. Her impact within the firm and the broader industry makes this recognition especially well deserved.”

Based in New Jersey, Coffey is a seasoned real estate attorney and Vice-Chair of Day Pitney’s Corporate and Business Law Department, with more than 15 years of experience advising developers and property owners on commercial, industrial, and multi-family development and redevelopment. Her practice includes land use and zoning, acquisitions and dispositions, financing, leasing, and financial incentives, including tax exemptions and redevelopment area bonding. Known as a self-described “dirt lawyer,” she has deep experience navigating New Jersey’s complex regulatory landscape, including affordable housing and Highlands compliance, liquor license transfers, and real estate litigation, and advises on reciprocal easement agreements, condominium sponsorship and conversion, and condominium association matters.

Coffey represents clients in complex real estate transactions, land use approvals, and redevelopment projects. She has secured key approvals, negotiated redevelopment agreements and PILOTs, and structured joint ventures and financing. Her experience includes advising public and private companies on corporate campus redevelopments, guiding national clients through New Jersey entitlement processes, and representing redevelopers, data center and industrial developers, and multi-family and tax credit developers across acquisitions, leasing, planning, financing, and affordable housing approvals.

In addition to her practice, Coffey is actively engaged in industry and community leadership. She serves on the Advisory Board of the Rutgers Center for Real Estate and as general counsel to the New Jersey Builders Association Affordable Housing Committee, and previously served on the Association’s Highlands Committee. She is a former member of the Rutgers Real Estate Center Emerging Leaders Council and co-chaired the Morris County Bar Association’s Land Use Committee from 2014 to 2025. She also serves on the board of the Lakeland Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Coffey was previously named as a NJBIZ “Forty under 40” (click here for NJBIZ methodology), selected to INNOVATE New Jersey’s INNOVATE100 Honoree List (click here for INNOVATE methodology), listed by Best Lawyers® for Land Use and Zoning (click here for Best Lawyers methodology), and recognized by Chambers USA Legal Directory for Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use in New Jersey (click here for Chambers methodology). 

Coffey earned her J.D. from Emory University School of Law and her B.A., cum laude, from Washington and Lee University. She is admitted to practice in New Jersey and New York.

The full NJBIZ Leader in Real Estate, Construction and Design Honoree list can be found here. 

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